Kukla's Korner Hockey

Adam Erne was not suspended for his from-behind hit Friday that caused Jonathan Drouin's head to hit the side glass and might have caused a concussion.

But the idea of one Lightning prospect injuring another in a junior Quebec league game raised an interesting question: Is there a responsibility for players in the same organization — likely future teammates, in fact — to play each other more carefully?

Lightning players, for the most part, said the only responsibility is to play the game clean.

"When the game starts, you have no friends," LW Pierre-Cedric Labrie said Saturday. "You have to finish your hits. But if it's an illegal hit, it doesn't matter who it is, you can't do that."

Comments

Yes, you hit a possible future teammate because when you’re playing it shouldn’t matter who is wearing the sweater, only that it’s a different sweater than the one you’re wearing.

Should NHL players hit other players? Everyone in the league is a possible future teammate.

As for this hit, the fact that they’re both Lightning prospects should be irrelevant. Erne shouldn’t be hitting anyone like that. It’s no more or less ok because they were both drafted by the same team.

Everyone should play totally hard and totally clean. There should be absolute respect for one another. They’re all “professional hockey players.” All three of those words matter. Taking the puck or taking the body is fine. Taking a cheap shot is just wrong, no matter what team the prospect has signed on.